Related Tags:

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Federal prosecutors want alleged mob boss Joseph Ligambi held pending his retrial, while the defense argues the government’s case was mostly obliterated during his recent trial and he should be freed.

Last night, government prosecutors filed formal notice of their opposition to the defense request for bail for Joseph Ligambi, who remains jailed following a trial that ended with a jury deadlock on four counts against him.

In a pre-trial detention motion, government prosecutors allege that Ligambi remains a danger to the community and views the rule of law in our society as “a joke.”

Ligambi was recently acquitted at trial of five of the nine counts against him, and the jury was unable to reach a verdict on four other counts.

Meantime, defense attorney Edwin Jacobs Jr. has argued in his bail motion that it’s reasonable to infer the jury did not believe Ligambi was the boss of the mob based on its failure to reach a verdict on the lead charge of racketeering conspiracy.

But the prosecution counters that it’s also reasonable to infer that some jurors did believe Ligambi was the boss, and the convictions or guilty pleas of nine other defendants confirms the existence of the local mob and its criminal acts.

The defense also argued that Ligambi, 73, has significant community and family ties, has an offer of employment from a respected but unidentified Philadelphia-based corporation.